Talos to add Tornado field production with sidetrack

Talos Energy Inc., Houston, will bring online its recent Tornado well in the Green Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico following an accelerated completion timeline expected to begin immediately. With existing infrastructure in place, production is expected by this year’s third quarter, ahead of initial expectations.

The company drilled the Tornado 3 sidetrack well (Tornado Attic well), which discovered pay in-line with pre-drill expectations. It is expected to produce 8,000-10,000 boe/d gross (80% oil) once online.

The Tornado Attic well was designed to optimize recovery and was drilled some 4,500 ft from the Tornado water flood injection well and 1,550 ft from the closest existing producer well. Drilling operations were conducted from the Seadrill West Neptune rig and encountered about 85 gross (63 net) ft of true vertical thickness pay in the B6 Upper Zone with rock properties and reservoir consistent with internal modeling and pre-drill expectations.

Tornado field was discovered in 2016 and lies about 3 miles south of the company's Phoenix complex, which was acquired in 2013 and utilizes the HP-I floating production unit. To date Tornado field has produced 34 MMboe gross, about 80% of which is oil.

In 2020, Talos initiated the intra-well waterflood project, drilling an injection well which sources water from a large aquifer above the producing B-6 Sand. Known as a "dump flood,” the project is one of the first of its kind in a subsea, deepwater environment, Talos said. The higher pressured aquifer naturally injects over 20,000 b/d of water into the lower pressured producing reservoir at the downdip boundary of the geological formation, creating reservoir energy to help maintain production and increase ultimate recovery throughout the field.

Talos is operator of the field with 65% working interest. Kosmos Energy holds 35%.